We still have not been able to spend our Sussex Bucks on one single item from the Duchess of Sussex’s American Riviera Orchard brand. She sent out strawberry jam and lemons, but there has been no real ARO launch or actual product reveal. I’m not “concerned,” I just want to be able to buy some ARO stuff. The ARO launch might have been paused for a few months while Meghan filmed her Netflix… cooking show? Entertaining show? Lifestyle show? All of the above, probably. Well, the Daily Beast’s Royalist got a hot tip that Meghan has wrapped filming the show, and of course Tom Sykes has to put the most negative spin on it:
Meghan Markle needs a hit. If she is lucky, she may have one soon. She has finished filming her new cookery and home show, The Daily Beast understands, meaning her as yet untitled new project could soon be appearing on Netflix. A Hollywood source told The Daily Beast: “It all went well and it is in the can.”
A spokesperson for Meghan declined to comment to The Daily Beast when asked if filming had finished. Neither the streamer nor Meghan’s team have said when the new series will air or what it will be called, however Meghan has said it will “celebrate the joys of cooking & gardening, entertaining, and friendship.”
Meghan was recently spotted by one TikTok user filming in a Beverly Hills park. The industry insider said that while it was possible that the show might need a few extra shots, they suspected that the filming uploaded to TikTok was unrelated to the home show project as the team had “got everything” they needed.
The Daily Beast has been told that filming has now ceased at a residential property just a few miles from Meghan and Prince Harry’s own home which was being used as a principal set for the show. While the decision on when to transmit the new show will ultimately be down to the streaming giant, Meghan will likely be eager to make a start on her new career as a home and lifestyle guru in the mold of Martha Stewart or Gwyneth Paltrow as soon as possible.
And there is no denying that a slam-dunk smash hit would be extremely helpful, after a perceived failure to follow through coherently and profitably with her various initiatives and businesses in recent years.
One expert on the intersection of talent and business, the PR consultant Mark Borkowski, told The Daily Beast, “The issue is Meghan’s ability to generate actual money. That is dependent on the quality of this new show. I suspect it won’t be a car crash; there is too much riding on it and she is being repped by the most powerful talent agency in the world, who will have gathered the right people around her. If she has listened and learnt and is comfortable in this new role as a kind of sub-Martha Stewart, sub-Oprah, this could be a relaunch to something new and interesting. If it is another fail, it will be more difficult, because she will have to pivot to yet another new direction. But the bottom line is that whatever Meghan Markle does will always generate massive interest, she brings eyeballs and that means there is a long line of people who would still want to align with her. She will always attract somebody who will want to leverage her brand.”
I cut out a chunk of Sykes lamenting the lack of updates on the 40X40 mentorship project, because Sykes and all of the British commentators seem to think that it was actually an “initiative” rather than a suggestion Meghan made to fans for her 40th birthday. Anyway, I’m glad Meghan has wrapped on this show and I hope we get to see it soon. I’m not looking forward to the negativity around it, but I suspect that Meghan isn’t even going to breathe a word about the left-behinds. It’s going to be wholly positive and all about food and flowers and sh-t.
Photos courtesy of Instar, Cover Images and Archewell.